Ran across an interesting idea today while reading The Practice of Creative Writing by Heather Sellers:
“Get in the habit of writing in images instead of putting down all your thoughts hoping to translate them into images later” (122).
I’m entranced by the thought of using this advice as a journaling project.  What would my journal be [...]

I’ve been drafting two hours a day, five days a week, for about three weeks now.  That’s nearly impossible for me during the “high season” at my “real” job, but I’ve been making it happen.  And I don’t allow myself to write any more than that, even if I want to.
So far, I’m not moving [...]

So, as I re-enter my “real world” after my vacation on beautiful St. John, USVI, I’m wondering something:  can I take Lonnie Squires out of her humble home in Middelburg, Michigan, USA, and place her in a completely foreign setting for a book?
I know many mystery series do this, notably Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon series, [...]

There isn’t much as cool as starting the new year–and the new decade– with a full moon, a blue moon, a clear Caribbean sky, temps in the 80s, sea air, family members nearby, and a ginger bush cat with an enormous sense of humor. I’m feeling pretty lucky.
I like to do a review of [...]

I just got a new itouch.  So, yes, I admit quite frankly that I’m in love.
But I’m also in love with this great idea from featherproof books:

It is our most whiz-bangy thing-a-ma-jig yet. The TripleQuick Fiction iPhone app.
What’s that you ask? Well, simply put: stories by some of today’s most exciting young writers delivered straight [...]

A friend sent me this quote today:
The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.
-Oscar Wilde, writer (1854-1900)
It has set me thinking.
I can think of many instances from my own life when I’m sure this is true.  Times when I’ve observed someone condemn as immoral a book or [...]

Maira Kalman is a “graphic” essayist/memoirist–her form isn’t standard comics, but a mixture of painting and photos.  I adore her work, her use of color, her upbeat ways of making meaning.
And if you want to feel good about ways to move forward with our communities–even when it comes to sewage in New York City–your [...]

Thanks to the return of SNL’s Weekend Update Thursday last week, September 17, I’m reminded how much I just love “Really?! With Seth and Amy.”  Something about their angry indignation just appeals to my spirit.  They didn’t do it last night (September 24), and most of the earlier installments are out there on the web.  [...]

“By being the curator of our images, we care for our souls.”  Thomas Moore

What a lovely quote for anyone who works with images.  Writers.  Painters.  Photographers.  Musicians.  Others.  The work we do is care for our souls, isn’t it?
This is why it is so important for lesbians (as well as gay men, African-Americans, Asian Americans, [...]

Saw a lovely movie:  Imagine Me and You (2005).  It’s a light, delightful romantic comedy about two women who–in the typical romantic comedy sort of way–overcome the obstacles that indicate they can never be together and, you guessed it, get to be together.  Romantic comedy = happy ending, so no spoiler there.  And in terms [...]

While I was in northern Michigan last week I visted the most fantastic bookstore in Gaylord:  Saturn Booksellers.  The staff eagerly chatted books with anyone who wanted to and left others alone to browse in silence.  I watched as several customers who didn’t know each other picked up a lively conversation over a “staff recommendation” [...]

Just returned from a lovely relaxing trip into the “wilds” of northern Michigan (that’s the northern part of the lower peninsula) that was both vacation and research for the third Lonnie Squires mystery, DITCHED. Mancelona, Gaylord, Topinabee, Cheboygan, Mackinaw City and other wonderful places. I’m not going to say much else about it for now [...]

The second Lonnie Squires mystery, TOASTED, available September 1!
Cousin Donna Hancock’s Loaves and Fishes Culinary Ministries evangelical cooking school road show–think about it.  Lonnie Squires has to.
Trying to redeem her good name in the little town of Middelburg, Lonnie volunteers as additional security for Cousin Donna’s traveling program.  Her ultimate goal is supporting her own [...]

The book is Asterios Polyp by Dave Mazzucchelli. 
I love graphic novels and this one got a great write-up in Entertainment Weekly, so I grabbed a copy as soon as I could.
Almost everyone who writes about it says read it, then read it again.  I agree.
There’s a lot to like about this novel which tells [...]

The House of Deputies passed the legislation passed the other day by the bishops to allow for “generous pastoral response to meet the needs of the members of this Church” and to “honor the theological diversity of this Church in regard to matters of human sexuality.”
Hooray.  Convention ends in a few hours.
Nice wrap-up from Integrity [...]

Just saw this great piece by Irene Monroe in the Huffington Post.
She gives a fascinating overview of the global and racial issues so entangled with the treatment of LGBT people both in the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion.
A snippet:
By pitting marginalized groups like gays and Africans against each other, the Church masks the [...]

Last evening the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church’s General Convention passed legistation on church rites for blessing same sex unions.  Even better, it passed with a strong majority:  104 bishops yes, 30 no, and 2 abstentions.  It goes to the House of Deputies today, where it seems likely to pass, but you never [...]

They did it!  This from an Integrity press release:
ANAHEIM, CA (July 14, 2009)–The House of Deputies reiterated its overwhelming support for the full inclusion of all the baptized in all orders of ministry by concurring with resolution DO25 as amended by the House of Bishops.
“Today’s action put the ‘Amen’ at the end of one of [...]

Why should we care what the Episcopalians decide to do about opening the full church to LGBT people?
Ripple effect.
According to the New York Times,
The battle over homosexuality in the Episcopal Church has been watched closely by other mainline Protestant churches that are also divided internally on the issue. Many are looking to the Episcopal Church [...]

When I ponder things like the need for clean water around the world, preventable disease, the U.S. and world economies, war, genocide, drugs, child soldiers, treatment of women and a host of other troubles on this planet, it still stuns me that opening the door for LGBT people to have full access to all orders [...]

This could be big–the bishops, after slightly amending the resolution that would open all orders of the Episcopal church to all the baptized (read:  let partnered GLBT people become bishops), passed the resolution by a resounding 99-45-2!!!!!!
HUZZZAH AGAIN!
Because they amended it, the House of Deputies must vote on it and pass it, but if they [...]

Here’s the lead paragraph from an Integrity press release about the goings on at the Episcopal Convention:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ANAHEIM, CA (July 12, 2009)–In a special session today, the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church approved a resolution, 151 to 66, which effectively overrides the three-year ban on gay bishops within the church. The gently-worded [...]

As a writer, I’m captivated and thrilled by what I’ve just learned about Harvard University’s public narrative process.  Anything with “narrative” in the title gets my attention.  Fancy word for storytelling, right?  I’m a novelist and a lover of books, movies, television and long talks with friends.  I love storytelling.  So when I saw a [...]

I just read that a new poll, done by a conservative pollster no less, shows that six out of ten gay adults identify faith as an important part of their lives.  This may surprise some (I think it surprised the pollster) but I’m thinking, I knew that.  It’s one of the reasons I chose to [...]

One of the most interesting sources for LGBT news from the Episcopal Church’s General Convention will be Integrity’s convention portal.
Integrity identifies itself this way:

Since 1974, integrity has been a faithful witness of God’s inclusive love to the Episcopal Church and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.  We are working for the full inclusion of [...]

Why in heaven’s name am I writing about a heckuva big church meeting?
Well, because one of the main reasons I chose to focus my mystery series around the life of a lesbian Episcopal priest stems from my witnessing of the LGBT community’s struggles for full inclusion in the Episcopal Church.  I’m not a particularly churchy [...]

In the continuing struggle to regain control of my blog from the evil Word Press upgrade that ate it alive, I confess, I broke down.  I called for help.  Since no human being is available to talk at Word Press, at least not that I could find, I called the support team at my webhost, [...]

Today I’m going to take a long walk and then try to do something so I can see–actually see–what I’m typing into my posts. Still typing blank entries–just watching the cursor move across the white space. I see that WordPress has created “Beta” updates of this 2.8 release. I wonder if uploading [...]

So much for the supposed 24/7 support for which WordPress is famed. I can’t find a number or chat place to call. Nothing live. Just forums. Which I normally use, but this is crazy. Right now I’m typing to you all and I can’t see ANYTHING on my screen except the [...]

I just did the automatic wordpress upgrade and now my posting window shows only html, won’t allow me to post links or photos or do practically anything else I can usually do! Yesterday I couldn’t reply to comments, but today I mysteriously can. So, it’s off to call tech support. In the [...]

I recently set up a facebook account. I love the idea of using it to help readers find out more about me and my books. But ultimately I hope folks will visit the blog. It’s all I can do to keep one thing updated! But I recently read an article that [...]

Just a quick update.  Managed to complete the first draft of a thirty-four page book proposal last week.  A most successful writing extravaganza.
Didn’t get to celebrate much as major storms blew through the midwest and flooded my employer, my church, but not my house.  For which I am grateful, because many of my colleagues and friends [...]

This week I’ve hooked up with a group of writers with one shared goal:  to write for 30 hours between Monday morning and Friday dinner.  That may not sound like a lot, but that’s on top of “real life.”  We aren’t a writing group, in that we aren’t sharing any of our work with each [...]

Just got my first look at the cover for TOASTED!!  Super cool!  As soon as I get a .jpg version, I’ll post it so you can all WOW over it.
Today I’m doing some final edit checks on the TOASTED manuscript.  It’s a gray day outside and I’m also puppy-sitting.  So I’ll have plenty of upping [...]

Have I mentioned I love hockey?      
Used to watch it with my dad all the time. 
Before they wore helmets.  When they knocked out teeth.
It’s very civilized now, but I still love it.

Thanks to the recommendation of my local friendly librarian (an author’s best friend), I stocked up on terrific young adult novels to read for the next few weeks.  I settled in with The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol 1:  The Pox Party figuring to spend the weekend reading it.  Instead, [...]

Finally getting settled back in at home.  Though “settled” is relative, I guess, since there are still half-filled suitcases in the house and laundry to be done and mail to be sorted . . . and on and on.
I’ve been greeted with such wonderful emails from so many friends and readers since the award and [...]

Holy cow, I WON!!!
Here’s a shot from the screen when it was announced!
It was a great evening even before this announcement.  Bella author Karin Kallmaker won two awards–it was a great night for Bella.
Bonus:  the award for best mystery was presented by none other than Kate Clinton, so I got to meet her (or at [...]

ADAM LAMBERT WAS HERE TODAY!!
My informant was wrong–he was on the Today Show today, which I found out when I woke up and turned on the t.v. at 9:30 this morning.  I dressed and pretty much ran to Rockefeller Center.  Missed the outside singing.
Sad.
BUT!  Adam and Kris were on the Kathie Lee and Hoda show at 10, [...]

 Left the midwest in an astonishing downpour–the kind where it rains so hard it sounds like rocks are hitting your car.  Also a damp spirit as I heard from a friend that ADAM LAMBERT was on the Today Show this morning and I’d miss him by just a few hours.
 New York is drier, but overcast [...]

The luggage is all packed and sitting in the hallway, causing earth-shattering consternation to the household pets.  One of the cats even stole my wallet this morning, but I found it before he dispersed the credit cards all over the back porch.  They love their sitter, but the luggage still freaks them out.
Flying freaks me [...]

This time next week I’ll be pressing my outfit, putting on the non-walking shoes and stuffing my phone and camera into my borrowed clutch to head off to the Lambda Literary Awards celebration in New York City!
I don’t really know what to expect, though I look forward to seeing my wonderful writing colleagues Karin Kallmaker [...]

Writers need their sleep.  And so do we all, especially if we’re learning new things. 
I feel vindicated.  I’ve always been a 9-hour-minimum sleeper, at least, if I want to be alert and functional.  In college, I told people sleep was my Number One priority.  Then studying.  Then social life.  I was a real charmer then, [...]

It’s about a teddy bear who has willed himself to live only to be arrested for being the most heinous terrorist mastermind.   Yes, really.  As the official website says:
Emotionally gripping and intellectually compelling, Winkie introduces the most memorable protagonist since the Velveteen Rabbit, and—with the help of a lesbian Moslem cleaning woman, a stuttering attorney, [...]

I voted 101 times for Adam last week.  I’ve never voted more than a dozen times in a season before this one.   Then I bought tickets to see the tour.  Next, I’ll buy an Adam Lambert t-shirt.  I probably should check the web . . .
I haven’t gotten all geeky-fan about anyone in a long [...]

Did anyone out there besides me not know that May 2 is “Brothers and Sisters Day?”  A day to be thankful for our siblings.  To send e-cards to them.  To call on the phone.
It would be easy to go all cynical and call it a marketing ploy by card companies.  Maybe so.  But I don’t [...]

I got this online and you can certainly go to the site to see more, but I thought I’d share!  Kinda cool, huh?  I’m very excited to go and check it all out!
 

HIP HIP HOORAY!
My new editor at Bella Books and I put the finishing touches on TOASTED and sent it off to production.  It’s on track for its August 15, 2009 release!
I’ll get the cover art up as soon as I have a copy (I haven’t seen it myself yet).  And I hope to post an [...]

It’s a little ritual I have:  to take a day near the end of April of beginning of May, stock up on chocolate and skim milk and read a mystery from start to finish.  I started the practice decades ago during college.  I’d finish my last exam but because I worked with housing, I couldn’t [...]

A lot of folks haven’t heard about this yet and a lot of others are looking for good sources to find out more about what’s going on with Amazon’s exclusion of adult titles from the sales rankings and its effect on gay and lesbian books.  Here’s some of the best I’ve found so far, so I thought I’d [...]

A young friend told me I had to check out this book for a new take on recording life.  I can’t stop re-reading it.
Maira Kalman’s The Principles of Uncertainty.
You may not recognize her name, but I’m willing to bet you’d recognize some of Maira Kalman’s art if you checked out her website or her visual [...]

I confessed the other day to being a huge American Idol fan.  No matter what happens with the voting and the performers, I love the show.  Sure, parts of it annoy me sometimes (I suspect that’s true of all Idol fans), but overall, I love knowing that two nights a week there will be something [...]

Well, I did it!  I promised I’d try to read and comment on four books in four weeks–books that would bring some new life and new perspectives into my writing life, and perhaps into yours too.
Actually, it was kind of fun.  And it helped me have something to talk about in addition to American Idol [...]

How did I miss this book for so long?  Have you missed it too?
It offers breath-taking wisdom on the meaning of life, choosing hope in the face of suffering, dignity, and humor.  It also offered great material for a writer considering how to enrich characterization.
Viktor E. Frankl’s tiny book, Man’s Search for Meaning, first appeared [...]

I like to read more than one book at a time.  Unless it’s fiction.  I can only read one novel at a time, but I can have several nonfiction books, art books, books on creativity going at once.  They all mix in my head in terrific ways.  And for the last several weeks, even as [...]

This week I checked out Bill O’Hanlon’s Write is a Verb:  Sit Down.  Start Writing.  No Excuses.   Cincinnati:  Writer’s Digest Books, 2007.
A lot of “how to make yourself sit down and write” sorts of books exist out there and  more than a few grace my own shelves.  No matter how many of them you’ve read, liked [...]

I’m no fashionista.  I thrive in jeans and a corduroy shirt.  So when I find out I have to look really good at a fancy event, I have a little panic.  If it’s late at night, it might turn into a big panic.  I’m already sweating out what I’m going to wear to the Lambda [...]

I’m feeling technologically triumphant this morning, as I figured out how to download a Wordpress theme and get it up onto my blog.  I know, I know–many young people could do this while playing World of Warcraft and Twittering (or is it Tweeting?) and texting and doing homework at the same time.  But I’m over [...]

Happy Monday.
I’m still working on the design of the blog.  Forgive the WordPress default.  But here’s some fun writing info to make up for it.
In honor of spring, I decided to do throw the windows wide and let in some new, fresh air to circulate with the familiar furniture of my imagination.  So for the [...]

The migration to a new web host takes longer when the weather knocks out your satellite internet connection and you take a day off to see your nephews play sports. Oh, well, I’ll get this fixed up soon! Also, I just learned that my email is down as well, and I hope to have that [...]

Happy Monday.
I’m still working on the design of the blog.  Forgive the WordPress default.  But here’s some fun writing info to make up for it.
In honor of spring, I decided to do throw the windows wide and let in some new, fresh air to circulate with the familiar furniture of my imagination.  So for the [...]

This week I checked out Bill O’Hanlon’s Write is a Verb:  Sit Down.  Start Writing.  No Excuses.   Cincinnati:  Writer’s Digest Books, 2007.
A lot of “how to make yourself sit down and write” sorts of books exist out there and  more than a few grace my own shelves.  No matter how many of them you’ve read, liked [...]

I like to read more than one book at a time.  Unless it’s fiction.  I can only read one novel at a time, but I can have several nonfiction books, art books, books on creativity going at once.  They all mix in my head in terrific ways.  And for the last several weeks, even as [...]

How did I miss this book for so long?  Have you missed it too?
It offers breath-taking wisdom on the meaning of life, choosing hope in the face of suffering, dignity, and humor.  It also offered great material for a writer considering how to enrich characterization.
Viktor E. Frankl’s tiny book, Man’s Search for Meaning, first appeared [...]

A young friend told me I had to check out this book for a new take on recording life.  I can’t stop re-reading it.
Maira Kalman’s The Principles of Uncertainty.
You may not recognize her name, but I’m willing to bet you’d recognize some of Maira Kalman’s art if you checked out her website or her visual [...]

It’s a little ritual I have:  to take a day near the end of April of beginning of May, stock up on chocolate and skim milk and read a mystery from start to finish.  I started the practice decades ago during college.  I’d finish my last exam but because I worked with housing, I couldn’t [...]

It’s about a teddy bear who has willed himself to live only to be arrested for being the most heinous terrorist mastermind.   Yes, really.  As the official website says:
Emotionally gripping and intellectually compelling, Winkie introduces the most memorable protagonist since the Velveteen Rabbit, and—with the help of a lesbian Moslem cleaning woman, a stuttering attorney, [...]

Writers need their sleep.  And so do we all, especially if we’re learning new things. 
I feel vindicated.  I’ve always been a 9-hour-minimum sleeper, at least, if I want to be alert and functional.  In college, I told people sleep was my Number One priority.  Then studying.  Then social life.  I was a real charmer then, [...]

Thanks to the recommendation of my local friendly librarian (an author’s best friend), I stocked up on terrific young adult novels to read for the next few weeks.  I settled in with The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol 1:  The Pox Party figuring to spend the weekend reading it.  Instead, [...]

The book is Asterios Polyp by Dave Mazzucchelli. 
I love graphic novels and this one got a great write-up in Entertainment Weekly, so I grabbed a copy as soon as I could.
Almost everyone who writes about it says read it, then read it again.  I agree.
There’s a lot to like about this novel which tells [...]

Maira Kalman is a “graphic” essayist/memoirist–her form isn’t standard comics, but a mixture of painting and photos.  I adore her work, her use of color, her upbeat ways of making meaning.
And if you want to feel good about ways to move forward with our communities–even when it comes to sewage in New York City–your [...]

A young friend told me I had to check out this book for a new take on recording life.  I can’t stop re-reading it.
Maira Kalman’s The Principles of Uncertainty.
You may not recognize her name, but I’m willing to bet you’d recognize some of Maira Kalman’s art if you checked out her website or her visual [...]

Writers need their sleep.  And so do we all, especially if we’re learning new things. 
I feel vindicated.  I’ve always been a 9-hour-minimum sleeper, at least, if I want to be alert and functional.  In college, I told people sleep was my Number One priority.  Then studying.  Then social life.  I was a real charmer then, [...]

How did I miss this book for so long?  Have you missed it too?
It offers breath-taking wisdom on the meaning of life, choosing hope in the face of suffering, dignity, and humor.  It also offered great material for a writer considering how to enrich characterization.
Viktor E. Frankl’s tiny book, Man’s Search for Meaning, first appeared [...]

A young friend told me I had to check out this book for a new take on recording life.  I can’t stop re-reading it.
Maira Kalman’s The Principles of Uncertainty.
You may not recognize her name, but I’m willing to bet you’d recognize some of Maira Kalman’s art if you checked out her website or her visual [...]

Maira Kalman is a “graphic” essayist/memoirist–her form isn’t standard comics, but a mixture of painting and photos.  I adore her work, her use of color, her upbeat ways of making meaning.
And if you want to feel good about ways to move forward with our communities–even when it comes to sewage in New York City–your [...]

Happy Monday.
I’m still working on the design of the blog.  Forgive the WordPress default.  But here’s some fun writing info to make up for it.
In honor of spring, I decided to do throw the windows wide and let in some new, fresh air to circulate with the familiar furniture of my imagination.  So for the [...]

This week I checked out Bill O’Hanlon’s Write is a Verb:  Sit Down.  Start Writing.  No Excuses.   Cincinnati:  Writer’s Digest Books, 2007.
A lot of “how to make yourself sit down and write” sorts of books exist out there and  more than a few grace my own shelves.  No matter how many of them you’ve read, liked [...]

I like to read more than one book at a time.  Unless it’s fiction.  I can only read one novel at a time, but I can have several nonfiction books, art books, books on creativity going at once.  They all mix in my head in terrific ways.  And for the last several weeks, even as [...]

How did I miss this book for so long?  Have you missed it too?
It offers breath-taking wisdom on the meaning of life, choosing hope in the face of suffering, dignity, and humor.  It also offered great material for a writer considering how to enrich characterization.
Viktor E. Frankl’s tiny book, Man’s Search for Meaning, first appeared [...]

Saw a lovely movie:  Imagine Me and You (2005).  It’s a light, delightful romantic comedy about two women who–in the typical romantic comedy sort of way–overcome the obstacles that indicate they can never be together and, you guessed it, get to be together.  Romantic comedy = happy ending, so no spoiler there.  And in terms [...]

I confessed the other day to being a huge American Idol fan.  No matter what happens with the voting and the performers, I love the show.  Sure, parts of it annoy me sometimes (I suspect that’s true of all Idol fans), but overall, I love knowing that two nights a week there will be something [...]

A lot of folks haven’t heard about this yet and a lot of others are looking for good sources to find out more about what’s going on with Amazon’s exclusion of adult titles from the sales rankings and its effect on gay and lesbian books.  Here’s some of the best I’ve found so far, so I thought I’d [...]

I voted 101 times for Adam last week.  I’ve never voted more than a dozen times in a season before this one.   Then I bought tickets to see the tour.  Next, I’ll buy an Adam Lambert t-shirt.  I probably should check the web . . .
I haven’t gotten all geeky-fan about anyone in a long [...]

It’s about a teddy bear who has willed himself to live only to be arrested for being the most heinous terrorist mastermind.   Yes, really.  As the official website says:
Emotionally gripping and intellectually compelling, Winkie introduces the most memorable protagonist since the Velveteen Rabbit, and—with the help of a lesbian Moslem cleaning woman, a stuttering attorney, [...]

The luggage is all packed and sitting in the hallway, causing earth-shattering consternation to the household pets.  One of the cats even stole my wallet this morning, but I found it before he dispersed the credit cards all over the back porch.  They love their sitter, but the luggage still freaks them out.
Flying freaks me [...]

 Left the midwest in an astonishing downpour–the kind where it rains so hard it sounds like rocks are hitting your car.  Also a damp spirit as I heard from a friend that ADAM LAMBERT was on the Today Show this morning and I’d miss him by just a few hours.
 New York is drier, but overcast [...]

ADAM LAMBERT WAS HERE TODAY!!
My informant was wrong–he was on the Today Show today, which I found out when I woke up and turned on the t.v. at 9:30 this morning.  I dressed and pretty much ran to Rockefeller Center.  Missed the outside singing.
Sad.
BUT!  Adam and Kris were on the Kathie Lee and Hoda show at 10, [...]

Holy cow, I WON!!!
Here’s a shot from the screen when it was announced!
It was a great evening even before this announcement.  Bella author Karin Kallmaker won two awards–it was a great night for Bella.
Bonus:  the award for best mystery was presented by none other than Kate Clinton, so I got to meet her (or at [...]

I recently set up a facebook account. I love the idea of using it to help readers find out more about me and my books. But ultimately I hope folks will visit the blog. It’s all I can do to keep one thing updated! But I recently read an article that [...]

Why in heaven’s name am I writing about a heckuva big church meeting?
Well, because one of the main reasons I chose to focus my mystery series around the life of a lesbian Episcopal priest stems from my witnessing of the LGBT community’s struggles for full inclusion in the Episcopal Church.  I’m not a particularly churchy [...]

One of the most interesting sources for LGBT news from the Episcopal Church’s General Convention will be Integrity’s convention portal.
Integrity identifies itself this way:

Since 1974, integrity has been a faithful witness of God’s inclusive love to the Episcopal Church and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.  We are working for the full inclusion of [...]

I just read that a new poll, done by a conservative pollster no less, shows that six out of ten gay adults identify faith as an important part of their lives.  This may surprise some (I think it surprised the pollster) but I’m thinking, I knew that.  It’s one of the reasons I chose to [...]

This could be big–the bishops, after slightly amending the resolution that would open all orders of the Episcopal church to all the baptized (read:  let partnered GLBT people become bishops), passed the resolution by a resounding 99-45-2!!!!!!
HUZZZAH AGAIN!
Because they amended it, the House of Deputies must vote on it and pass it, but if they [...]

Why should we care what the Episcopalians decide to do about opening the full church to LGBT people?
Ripple effect.
According to the New York Times,
The battle over homosexuality in the Episcopal Church has been watched closely by other mainline Protestant churches that are also divided internally on the issue. Many are looking to the Episcopal Church [...]

Last evening the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church’s General Convention passed legistation on church rites for blessing same sex unions.  Even better, it passed with a strong majority:  104 bishops yes, 30 no, and 2 abstentions.  It goes to the House of Deputies today, where it seems likely to pass, but you never [...]

Just saw this great piece by Irene Monroe in the Huffington Post.
She gives a fascinating overview of the global and racial issues so entangled with the treatment of LGBT people both in the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion.
A snippet:
By pitting marginalized groups like gays and Africans against each other, the Church masks the [...]

The House of Deputies passed the legislation passed the other day by the bishops to allow for “generous pastoral response to meet the needs of the members of this Church” and to “honor the theological diversity of this Church in regard to matters of human sexuality.”
Hooray.  Convention ends in a few hours.
Nice wrap-up from Integrity [...]

The second Lonnie Squires mystery, TOASTED, available September 1!
Cousin Donna Hancock’s Loaves and Fishes Culinary Ministries evangelical cooking school road show–think about it.  Lonnie Squires has to.
Trying to redeem her good name in the little town of Middelburg, Lonnie volunteers as additional security for Cousin Donna’s traveling program.  Her ultimate goal is supporting her own [...]

While I was in northern Michigan last week I visted the most fantastic bookstore in Gaylord:  Saturn Booksellers.  The staff eagerly chatted books with anyone who wanted to and left others alone to browse in silence.  I watched as several customers who didn’t know each other picked up a lively conversation over a “staff recommendation” [...]

Saw a lovely movie:  Imagine Me and You (2005).  It’s a light, delightful romantic comedy about two women who–in the typical romantic comedy sort of way–overcome the obstacles that indicate they can never be together and, you guessed it, get to be together.  Romantic comedy = happy ending, so no spoiler there.  And in terms [...]

The book is Asterios Polyp by Dave Mazzucchelli. 
I love graphic novels and this one got a great write-up in Entertainment Weekly, so I grabbed a copy as soon as I could.
Almost everyone who writes about it says read it, then read it again.  I agree.
There’s a lot to like about this novel which tells [...]

Maira Kalman is a “graphic” essayist/memoirist–her form isn’t standard comics, but a mixture of painting and photos.  I adore her work, her use of color, her upbeat ways of making meaning.
And if you want to feel good about ways to move forward with our communities–even when it comes to sewage in New York City–your [...]

I’m no fashionista.  I thrive in jeans and a corduroy shirt.  So when I find out I have to look really good at a fancy event, I have a little panic.  If it’s late at night, it might turn into a big panic.  I’m already sweating out what I’m going to wear to the Lambda [...]

Well, I did it!  I promised I’d try to read and comment on four books in four weeks–books that would bring some new life and new perspectives into my writing life, and perhaps into yours too.
Actually, it was kind of fun.  And it helped me have something to talk about in addition to American Idol [...]

I confessed the other day to being a huge American Idol fan.  No matter what happens with the voting and the performers, I love the show.  Sure, parts of it annoy me sometimes (I suspect that’s true of all Idol fans), but overall, I love knowing that two nights a week there will be something [...]

Did anyone out there besides me not know that May 2 is “Brothers and Sisters Day?”  A day to be thankful for our siblings.  To send e-cards to them.  To call on the phone.
It would be easy to go all cynical and call it a marketing ploy by card companies.  Maybe so.  But I don’t [...]

I voted 101 times for Adam last week.  I’ve never voted more than a dozen times in a season before this one.   Then I bought tickets to see the tour.  Next, I’ll buy an Adam Lambert t-shirt.  I probably should check the web . . .
I haven’t gotten all geeky-fan about anyone in a long [...]

The luggage is all packed and sitting in the hallway, causing earth-shattering consternation to the household pets.  One of the cats even stole my wallet this morning, but I found it before he dispersed the credit cards all over the back porch.  They love their sitter, but the luggage still freaks them out.
Flying freaks me [...]

 Left the midwest in an astonishing downpour–the kind where it rains so hard it sounds like rocks are hitting your car.  Also a damp spirit as I heard from a friend that ADAM LAMBERT was on the Today Show this morning and I’d miss him by just a few hours.
 New York is drier, but overcast [...]

ADAM LAMBERT WAS HERE TODAY!!
My informant was wrong–he was on the Today Show today, which I found out when I woke up and turned on the t.v. at 9:30 this morning.  I dressed and pretty much ran to Rockefeller Center.  Missed the outside singing.
Sad.
BUT!  Adam and Kris were on the Kathie Lee and Hoda show at 10, [...]

Holy cow, I WON!!!
Here’s a shot from the screen when it was announced!
It was a great evening even before this announcement.  Bella author Karin Kallmaker won two awards–it was a great night for Bella.
Bonus:  the award for best mystery was presented by none other than Kate Clinton, so I got to meet her (or at [...]

Finally getting settled back in at home.  Though “settled” is relative, I guess, since there are still half-filled suitcases in the house and laundry to be done and mail to be sorted . . . and on and on.
I’ve been greeted with such wonderful emails from so many friends and readers since the award and [...]

Have I mentioned I love hockey?      
Used to watch it with my dad all the time. 
Before they wore helmets.  When they knocked out teeth.
It’s very civilized now, but I still love it.

I just did the automatic wordpress upgrade and now my posting window shows only html, won’t allow me to post links or photos or do practically anything else I can usually do! Yesterday I couldn’t reply to comments, but today I mysteriously can. So, it’s off to call tech support. In the [...]

So much for the supposed 24/7 support for which WordPress is famed. I can’t find a number or chat place to call. Nothing live. Just forums. Which I normally use, but this is crazy. Right now I’m typing to you all and I can’t see ANYTHING on my screen except the [...]

Today I’m going to take a long walk and then try to do something so I can see–actually see–what I’m typing into my posts. Still typing blank entries–just watching the cursor move across the white space. I see that WordPress has created “Beta” updates of this 2.8 release. I wonder if uploading [...]

In the continuing struggle to regain control of my blog from the evil Word Press upgrade that ate it alive, I confess, I broke down.  I called for help.  Since no human being is available to talk at Word Press, at least not that I could find, I called the support team at my webhost, [...]

As a writer, I’m captivated and thrilled by what I’ve just learned about Harvard University’s public narrative process.  Anything with “narrative” in the title gets my attention.  Fancy word for storytelling, right?  I’m a novelist and a lover of books, movies, television and long talks with friends.  I love storytelling.  So when I saw a [...]

Here’s the lead paragraph from an Integrity press release about the goings on at the Episcopal Convention:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ANAHEIM, CA (July 12, 2009)–In a special session today, the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church approved a resolution, 151 to 66, which effectively overrides the three-year ban on gay bishops within the church. The gently-worded [...]

When I ponder things like the need for clean water around the world, preventable disease, the U.S. and world economies, war, genocide, drugs, child soldiers, treatment of women and a host of other troubles on this planet, it still stuns me that opening the door for LGBT people to have full access to all orders [...]

Why should we care what the Episcopalians decide to do about opening the full church to LGBT people?
Ripple effect.
According to the New York Times,
The battle over homosexuality in the Episcopal Church has been watched closely by other mainline Protestant churches that are also divided internally on the issue. Many are looking to the Episcopal Church [...]

They did it!  This from an Integrity press release:
ANAHEIM, CA (July 14, 2009)–The House of Deputies reiterated its overwhelming support for the full inclusion of all the baptized in all orders of ministry by concurring with resolution DO25 as amended by the House of Bishops.
“Today’s action put the ‘Amen’ at the end of one of [...]

Last evening the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church’s General Convention passed legistation on church rites for blessing same sex unions.  Even better, it passed with a strong majority:  104 bishops yes, 30 no, and 2 abstentions.  It goes to the House of Deputies today, where it seems likely to pass, but you never [...]

Just saw this great piece by Irene Monroe in the Huffington Post.
She gives a fascinating overview of the global and racial issues so entangled with the treatment of LGBT people both in the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion.
A snippet:
By pitting marginalized groups like gays and Africans against each other, the Church masks the [...]

The House of Deputies passed the legislation passed the other day by the bishops to allow for “generous pastoral response to meet the needs of the members of this Church” and to “honor the theological diversity of this Church in regard to matters of human sexuality.”
Hooray.  Convention ends in a few hours.
Nice wrap-up from Integrity [...]

The book is Asterios Polyp by Dave Mazzucchelli. 
I love graphic novels and this one got a great write-up in Entertainment Weekly, so I grabbed a copy as soon as I could.
Almost everyone who writes about it says read it, then read it again.  I agree.
There’s a lot to like about this novel which tells [...]

The second Lonnie Squires mystery, TOASTED, available September 1!
Cousin Donna Hancock’s Loaves and Fishes Culinary Ministries evangelical cooking school road show–think about it.  Lonnie Squires has to.
Trying to redeem her good name in the little town of Middelburg, Lonnie volunteers as additional security for Cousin Donna’s traveling program.  Her ultimate goal is supporting her own [...]

Just returned from a lovely relaxing trip into the “wilds” of northern Michigan (that’s the northern part of the lower peninsula) that was both vacation and research for the third Lonnie Squires mystery, DITCHED. Mancelona, Gaylord, Topinabee, Cheboygan, Mackinaw City and other wonderful places. I’m not going to say much else about it for now [...]

While I was in northern Michigan last week I visted the most fantastic bookstore in Gaylord:  Saturn Booksellers.  The staff eagerly chatted books with anyone who wanted to and left others alone to browse in silence.  I watched as several customers who didn’t know each other picked up a lively conversation over a “staff recommendation” [...]

Saw a lovely movie:  Imagine Me and You (2005).  It’s a light, delightful romantic comedy about two women who–in the typical romantic comedy sort of way–overcome the obstacles that indicate they can never be together and, you guessed it, get to be together.  Romantic comedy = happy ending, so no spoiler there.  And in terms [...]

“By being the curator of our images, we care for our souls.”  Thomas Moore

What a lovely quote for anyone who works with images.  Writers.  Painters.  Photographers.  Musicians.  Others.  The work we do is care for our souls, isn’t it?
This is why it is so important for lesbians (as well as gay men, African-Americans, Asian Americans, [...]

Thanks to the return of SNL’s Weekend Update Thursday last week, September 17, I’m reminded how much I just love “Really?! With Seth and Amy.”  Something about their angry indignation just appeals to my spirit.  They didn’t do it last night (September 24), and most of the earlier installments are out there on the web.  [...]

Maira Kalman is a “graphic” essayist/memoirist–her form isn’t standard comics, but a mixture of painting and photos.  I adore her work, her use of color, her upbeat ways of making meaning.
And if you want to feel good about ways to move forward with our communities–even when it comes to sewage in New York City–your [...]

A friend sent me this quote today:
The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.
-Oscar Wilde, writer (1854-1900)
It has set me thinking.
I can think of many instances from my own life when I’m sure this is true.  Times when I’ve observed someone condemn as immoral a book or [...]

There isn’t much as cool as starting the new year–and the new decade– with a full moon, a blue moon, a clear Caribbean sky, temps in the 80s, sea air, family members nearby, and a ginger bush cat with an enormous sense of humor. I’m feeling pretty lucky.
I like to do a review of [...]

So, as I re-enter my “real world” after my vacation on beautiful St. John, USVI, I’m wondering something:  can I take Lonnie Squires out of her humble home in Middelburg, Michigan, USA, and place her in a completely foreign setting for a book?
I know many mystery series do this, notably Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon series, [...]

Ran across an interesting idea today while reading The Practice of Creative Writing by Heather Sellers:
“Get in the habit of writing in images instead of putting down all your thoughts hoping to translate them into images later” (122).
I’m entranced by the thought of using this advice as a journaling project.  What would my journal be [...]

A young friend told me I had to check out this book for a new take on recording life.  I can’t stop re-reading it.
Maira Kalman’s The Principles of Uncertainty.
You may not recognize her name, but I’m willing to bet you’d recognize some of Maira Kalman’s art if you checked out her website or her visual [...]

Happy Monday.
I’m still working on the design of the blog.  Forgive the WordPress default.  But here’s some fun writing info to make up for it.
In honor of spring, I decided to do throw the windows wide and let in some new, fresh air to circulate with the familiar furniture of my imagination.  So for the [...]

I’m feeling technologically triumphant this morning, as I figured out how to download a Wordpress theme and get it up onto my blog.  I know, I know–many young people could do this while playing World of Warcraft and Twittering (or is it Tweeting?) and texting and doing homework at the same time.  But I’m over [...]

I’m no fashionista.  I thrive in jeans and a corduroy shirt.  So when I find out I have to look really good at a fancy event, I have a little panic.  If it’s late at night, it might turn into a big panic.  I’m already sweating out what I’m going to wear to the Lambda [...]

I like to read more than one book at a time.  Unless it’s fiction.  I can only read one novel at a time, but I can have several nonfiction books, art books, books on creativity going at once.  They all mix in my head in terrific ways.  And for the last several weeks, even as [...]

It’s about a teddy bear who has willed himself to live only to be arrested for being the most heinous terrorist mastermind.   Yes, really.  As the official website says:
Emotionally gripping and intellectually compelling, Winkie introduces the most memorable protagonist since the Velveteen Rabbit, and—with the help of a lesbian Moslem cleaning woman, a stuttering attorney, [...]

Writers need their sleep.  And so do we all, especially if we’re learning new things. 
I feel vindicated.  I’ve always been a 9-hour-minimum sleeper, at least, if I want to be alert and functional.  In college, I told people sleep was my Number One priority.  Then studying.  Then social life.  I was a real charmer then, [...]

The luggage is all packed and sitting in the hallway, causing earth-shattering consternation to the household pets.  One of the cats even stole my wallet this morning, but I found it before he dispersed the credit cards all over the back porch.  They love their sitter, but the luggage still freaks them out.
Flying freaks me [...]

Holy cow, I WON!!!
Here’s a shot from the screen when it was announced!
It was a great evening even before this announcement.  Bella author Karin Kallmaker won two awards–it was a great night for Bella.
Bonus:  the award for best mystery was presented by none other than Kate Clinton, so I got to meet her (or at [...]

Finally getting settled back in at home.  Though “settled” is relative, I guess, since there are still half-filled suitcases in the house and laundry to be done and mail to be sorted . . . and on and on.
I’ve been greeted with such wonderful emails from so many friends and readers since the award and [...]

Why in heaven’s name am I writing about a heckuva big church meeting?
Well, because one of the main reasons I chose to focus my mystery series around the life of a lesbian Episcopal priest stems from my witnessing of the LGBT community’s struggles for full inclusion in the Episcopal Church.  I’m not a particularly churchy [...]

The second Lonnie Squires mystery, TOASTED, available September 1!
Cousin Donna Hancock’s Loaves and Fishes Culinary Ministries evangelical cooking school road show–think about it.  Lonnie Squires has to.
Trying to redeem her good name in the little town of Middelburg, Lonnie volunteers as additional security for Cousin Donna’s traveling program.  Her ultimate goal is supporting her own [...]

Just returned from a lovely relaxing trip into the “wilds” of northern Michigan (that’s the northern part of the lower peninsula) that was both vacation and research for the third Lonnie Squires mystery, DITCHED. Mancelona, Gaylord, Topinabee, Cheboygan, Mackinaw City and other wonderful places. I’m not going to say much else about it for now [...]

There isn’t much as cool as starting the new year–and the new decade– with a full moon, a blue moon, a clear Caribbean sky, temps in the 80s, sea air, family members nearby, and a ginger bush cat with an enormous sense of humor. I’m feeling pretty lucky.
I like to do a review of [...]

I’ve been drafting two hours a day, five days a week, for about three weeks now.  That’s nearly impossible for me during the “high season” at my “real” job, but I’ve been making it happen.  And I don’t allow myself to write any more than that, even if I want to.
So far, I’m not moving [...]

It’s a little ritual I have:  to take a day near the end of April of beginning of May, stock up on chocolate and skim milk and read a mystery from start to finish.  I started the practice decades ago during college.  I’d finish my last exam but because I worked with housing, I couldn’t [...]

Just a quick update.  Managed to complete the first draft of a thirty-four page book proposal last week.  A most successful writing extravaganza.
Didn’t get to celebrate much as major storms blew through the midwest and flooded my employer, my church, but not my house.  For which I am grateful, because many of my colleagues and friends [...]

Maira Kalman is a “graphic” essayist/memoirist–her form isn’t standard comics, but a mixture of painting and photos.  I adore her work, her use of color, her upbeat ways of making meaning.
And if you want to feel good about ways to move forward with our communities–even when it comes to sewage in New York City–your [...]

Thanks to the recommendation of my local friendly librarian (an author’s best friend), I stocked up on terrific young adult novels to read for the next few weeks.  I settled in with The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol 1:  The Pox Party figuring to spend the weekend reading it.  Instead, [...]

Why in heaven’s name am I writing about a heckuva big church meeting?
Well, because one of the main reasons I chose to focus my mystery series around the life of a lesbian Episcopal priest stems from my witnessing of the LGBT community’s struggles for full inclusion in the Episcopal Church.  I’m not a particularly churchy [...]

One of the most interesting sources for LGBT news from the Episcopal Church’s General Convention will be Integrity’s convention portal.
Integrity identifies itself this way:

Since 1974, integrity has been a faithful witness of God’s inclusive love to the Episcopal Church and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.  We are working for the full inclusion of [...]

I just read that a new poll, done by a conservative pollster no less, shows that six out of ten gay adults identify faith as an important part of their lives.  This may surprise some (I think it surprised the pollster) but I’m thinking, I knew that.  It’s one of the reasons I chose to [...]

This could be big–the bishops, after slightly amending the resolution that would open all orders of the Episcopal church to all the baptized (read:  let partnered GLBT people become bishops), passed the resolution by a resounding 99-45-2!!!!!!
HUZZZAH AGAIN!
Because they amended it, the House of Deputies must vote on it and pass it, but if they [...]

Why should we care what the Episcopalians decide to do about opening the full church to LGBT people?
Ripple effect.
According to the New York Times,
The battle over homosexuality in the Episcopal Church has been watched closely by other mainline Protestant churches that are also divided internally on the issue. Many are looking to the Episcopal Church [...]

Last evening the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church’s General Convention passed legistation on church rites for blessing same sex unions.  Even better, it passed with a strong majority:  104 bishops yes, 30 no, and 2 abstentions.  It goes to the House of Deputies today, where it seems likely to pass, but you never [...]

Just saw this great piece by Irene Monroe in the Huffington Post.
She gives a fascinating overview of the global and racial issues so entangled with the treatment of LGBT people both in the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion.
A snippet:
By pitting marginalized groups like gays and Africans against each other, the Church masks the [...]

The House of Deputies passed the legislation passed the other day by the bishops to allow for “generous pastoral response to meet the needs of the members of this Church” and to “honor the theological diversity of this Church in regard to matters of human sexuality.”
Hooray.  Convention ends in a few hours.
Nice wrap-up from Integrity [...]

The migration to a new web host takes longer when the weather knocks out your satellite internet connection and you take a day off to see your nephews play sports. Oh, well, I’ll get this fixed up soon! Also, I just learned that my email is down as well, and I hope to have that [...]

I’m feeling technologically triumphant this morning, as I figured out how to download a Wordpress theme and get it up onto my blog.  I know, I know–many young people could do this while playing World of Warcraft and Twittering (or is it Tweeting?) and texting and doing homework at the same time.  But I’m over [...]

I recently set up a facebook account. I love the idea of using it to help readers find out more about me and my books. But ultimately I hope folks will visit the blog. It’s all I can do to keep one thing updated! But I recently read an article that [...]

I just did the automatic wordpress upgrade and now my posting window shows only html, won’t allow me to post links or photos or do practically anything else I can usually do! Yesterday I couldn’t reply to comments, but today I mysteriously can. So, it’s off to call tech support. In the [...]

So much for the supposed 24/7 support for which WordPress is famed. I can’t find a number or chat place to call. Nothing live. Just forums. Which I normally use, but this is crazy. Right now I’m typing to you all and I can’t see ANYTHING on my screen except the [...]

Today I’m going to take a long walk and then try to do something so I can see–actually see–what I’m typing into my posts. Still typing blank entries–just watching the cursor move across the white space. I see that WordPress has created “Beta” updates of this 2.8 release. I wonder if uploading [...]

In the continuing struggle to regain control of my blog from the evil Word Press upgrade that ate it alive, I confess, I broke down.  I called for help.  Since no human being is available to talk at Word Press, at least not that I could find, I called the support team at my webhost, [...]

I just got a new itouch.  So, yes, I admit quite frankly that I’m in love.
But I’m also in love with this great idea from featherproof books:

It is our most whiz-bangy thing-a-ma-jig yet. The TripleQuick Fiction iPhone app.
What’s that you ask? Well, simply put: stories by some of today’s most exciting young writers delivered straight [...]

I confessed the other day to being a huge American Idol fan.  No matter what happens with the voting and the performers, I love the show.  Sure, parts of it annoy me sometimes (I suspect that’s true of all Idol fans), but overall, I love knowing that two nights a week there will be something [...]

I voted 101 times for Adam last week.  I’ve never voted more than a dozen times in a season before this one.   Then I bought tickets to see the tour.  Next, I’ll buy an Adam Lambert t-shirt.  I probably should check the web . . .
I haven’t gotten all geeky-fan about anyone in a long [...]

Have I mentioned I love hockey?      
Used to watch it with my dad all the time. 
Before they wore helmets.  When they knocked out teeth.
It’s very civilized now, but I still love it.

The luggage is all packed and sitting in the hallway, causing earth-shattering consternation to the household pets.  One of the cats even stole my wallet this morning, but I found it before he dispersed the credit cards all over the back porch.  They love their sitter, but the luggage still freaks them out.
Flying freaks me [...]

 Left the midwest in an astonishing downpour–the kind where it rains so hard it sounds like rocks are hitting your car.  Also a damp spirit as I heard from a friend that ADAM LAMBERT was on the Today Show this morning and I’d miss him by just a few hours.
 New York is drier, but overcast [...]

ADAM LAMBERT WAS HERE TODAY!!
My informant was wrong–he was on the Today Show today, which I found out when I woke up and turned on the t.v. at 9:30 this morning.  I dressed and pretty much ran to Rockefeller Center.  Missed the outside singing.
Sad.
BUT!  Adam and Kris were on the Kathie Lee and Hoda show at 10, [...]

Holy cow, I WON!!!
Here’s a shot from the screen when it was announced!
It was a great evening even before this announcement.  Bella author Karin Kallmaker won two awards–it was a great night for Bella.
Bonus:  the award for best mystery was presented by none other than Kate Clinton, so I got to meet her (or at [...]

Just returned from a lovely relaxing trip into the “wilds” of northern Michigan (that’s the northern part of the lower peninsula) that was both vacation and research for the third Lonnie Squires mystery, DITCHED. Mancelona, Gaylord, Topinabee, Cheboygan, Mackinaw City and other wonderful places. I’m not going to say much else about it for now [...]

While I was in northern Michigan last week I visted the most fantastic bookstore in Gaylord:  Saturn Booksellers.  The staff eagerly chatted books with anyone who wanted to and left others alone to browse in silence.  I watched as several customers who didn’t know each other picked up a lively conversation over a “staff recommendation” [...]

HIP HIP HOORAY!
My new editor at Bella Books and I put the finishing touches on TOASTED and sent it off to production.  It’s on track for its August 15, 2009 release!
I’ll get the cover art up as soon as I have a copy (I haven’t seen it myself yet).  And I hope to post an [...]

I got this online and you can certainly go to the site to see more, but I thought I’d share!  Kinda cool, huh?  I’m very excited to go and check it all out!
 

Writers need their sleep.  And so do we all, especially if we’re learning new things. 
I feel vindicated.  I’ve always been a 9-hour-minimum sleeper, at least, if I want to be alert and functional.  In college, I told people sleep was my Number One priority.  Then studying.  Then social life.  I was a real charmer then, [...]

This time next week I’ll be pressing my outfit, putting on the non-walking shoes and stuffing my phone and camera into my borrowed clutch to head off to the Lambda Literary Awards celebration in New York City!
I don’t really know what to expect, though I look forward to seeing my wonderful writing colleagues Karin Kallmaker [...]

 Left the midwest in an astonishing downpour–the kind where it rains so hard it sounds like rocks are hitting your car.  Also a damp spirit as I heard from a friend that ADAM LAMBERT was on the Today Show this morning and I’d miss him by just a few hours.
 New York is drier, but overcast [...]

Just got my first look at the cover for TOASTED!!  Super cool!  As soon as I get a .jpg version, I’ll post it so you can all WOW over it.
Today I’m doing some final edit checks on the TOASTED manuscript.  It’s a gray day outside and I’m also puppy-sitting.  So I’ll have plenty of upping [...]

Today I’m going to take a long walk and then try to do something so I can see–actually see–what I’m typing into my posts. Still typing blank entries–just watching the cursor move across the white space. I see that WordPress has created “Beta” updates of this 2.8 release. I wonder if uploading [...]

Happy Monday.
I’m still working on the design of the blog.  Forgive the WordPress default.  But here’s some fun writing info to make up for it.
In honor of spring, I decided to do throw the windows wide and let in some new, fresh air to circulate with the familiar furniture of my imagination.  So for the [...]

I’m feeling technologically triumphant this morning, as I figured out how to download a Wordpress theme and get it up onto my blog.  I know, I know–many young people could do this while playing World of Warcraft and Twittering (or is it Tweeting?) and texting and doing homework at the same time.  But I’m over [...]

I’m no fashionista.  I thrive in jeans and a corduroy shirt.  So when I find out I have to look really good at a fancy event, I have a little panic.  If it’s late at night, it might turn into a big panic.  I’m already sweating out what I’m going to wear to the Lambda [...]

I like to read more than one book at a time.  Unless it’s fiction.  I can only read one novel at a time, but I can have several nonfiction books, art books, books on creativity going at once.  They all mix in my head in terrific ways.  And for the last several weeks, even as [...]

A lot of folks haven’t heard about this yet and a lot of others are looking for good sources to find out more about what’s going on with Amazon’s exclusion of adult titles from the sales rankings and its effect on gay and lesbian books.  Here’s some of the best I’ve found so far, so I thought I’d [...]

It’s a little ritual I have:  to take a day near the end of April of beginning of May, stock up on chocolate and skim milk and read a mystery from start to finish.  I started the practice decades ago during college.  I’d finish my last exam but because I worked with housing, I couldn’t [...]

It’s about a teddy bear who has willed himself to live only to be arrested for being the most heinous terrorist mastermind.   Yes, really.  As the official website says:
Emotionally gripping and intellectually compelling, Winkie introduces the most memorable protagonist since the Velveteen Rabbit, and—with the help of a lesbian Moslem cleaning woman, a stuttering attorney, [...]

Writers need their sleep.  And so do we all, especially if we’re learning new things. 
I feel vindicated.  I’ve always been a 9-hour-minimum sleeper, at least, if I want to be alert and functional.  In college, I told people sleep was my Number One priority.  Then studying.  Then social life.  I was a real charmer then, [...]

The luggage is all packed and sitting in the hallway, causing earth-shattering consternation to the household pets.  One of the cats even stole my wallet this morning, but I found it before he dispersed the credit cards all over the back porch.  They love their sitter, but the luggage still freaks them out.
Flying freaks me [...]

 Left the midwest in an astonishing downpour–the kind where it rains so hard it sounds like rocks are hitting your car.  Also a damp spirit as I heard from a friend that ADAM LAMBERT was on the Today Show this morning and I’d miss him by just a few hours.
 New York is drier, but overcast [...]

ADAM LAMBERT WAS HERE TODAY!!
My informant was wrong–he was on the Today Show today, which I found out when I woke up and turned on the t.v. at 9:30 this morning.  I dressed and pretty much ran to Rockefeller Center.  Missed the outside singing.
Sad.
BUT!  Adam and Kris were on the Kathie Lee and Hoda show at 10, [...]

Holy cow, I WON!!!
Here’s a shot from the screen when it was announced!
It was a great evening even before this announcement.  Bella author Karin Kallmaker won two awards–it was a great night for Bella.
Bonus:  the award for best mystery was presented by none other than Kate Clinton, so I got to meet her (or at [...]

Finally getting settled back in at home.  Though “settled” is relative, I guess, since there are still half-filled suitcases in the house and laundry to be done and mail to be sorted . . . and on and on.
I’ve been greeted with such wonderful emails from so many friends and readers since the award and [...]

This week I’ve hooked up with a group of writers with one shared goal:  to write for 30 hours between Monday morning and Friday dinner.  That may not sound like a lot, but that’s on top of “real life.”  We aren’t a writing group, in that we aren’t sharing any of our work with each [...]

I recently set up a facebook account. I love the idea of using it to help readers find out more about me and my books. But ultimately I hope folks will visit the blog. It’s all I can do to keep one thing updated! But I recently read an article that [...]

Why in heaven’s name am I writing about a heckuva big church meeting?
Well, because one of the main reasons I chose to focus my mystery series around the life of a lesbian Episcopal priest stems from my witnessing of the LGBT community’s struggles for full inclusion in the Episcopal Church.  I’m not a particularly churchy [...]

The second Lonnie Squires mystery, TOASTED, available September 1!
Cousin Donna Hancock’s Loaves and Fishes Culinary Ministries evangelical cooking school road show–think about it.  Lonnie Squires has to.
Trying to redeem her good name in the little town of Middelburg, Lonnie volunteers as additional security for Cousin Donna’s traveling program.  Her ultimate goal is supporting her own [...]

Just returned from a lovely relaxing trip into the “wilds” of northern Michigan (that’s the northern part of the lower peninsula) that was both vacation and research for the third Lonnie Squires mystery, DITCHED. Mancelona, Gaylord, Topinabee, Cheboygan, Mackinaw City and other wonderful places. I’m not going to say much else about it for now [...]

While I was in northern Michigan last week I visted the most fantastic bookstore in Gaylord:  Saturn Booksellers.  The staff eagerly chatted books with anyone who wanted to and left others alone to browse in silence.  I watched as several customers who didn’t know each other picked up a lively conversation over a “staff recommendation” [...]

Maira Kalman is a “graphic” essayist/memoirist–her form isn’t standard comics, but a mixture of painting and photos.  I adore her work, her use of color, her upbeat ways of making meaning.
And if you want to feel good about ways to move forward with our communities–even when it comes to sewage in New York City–your [...]

There isn’t much as cool as starting the new year–and the new decade– with a full moon, a blue moon, a clear Caribbean sky, temps in the 80s, sea air, family members nearby, and a ginger bush cat with an enormous sense of humor. I’m feeling pretty lucky.
I like to do a review of [...]

I’ve been drafting two hours a day, five days a week, for about three weeks now.  That’s nearly impossible for me during the “high season” at my “real” job, but I’ve been making it happen.  And I don’t allow myself to write any more than that, even if I want to.
So far, I’m not moving [...]

I’m no fashionista.  I thrive in jeans and a corduroy shirt.  So when I find out I have to look really good at a fancy event, I have a little panic.  If it’s late at night, it might turn into a big panic.  I’m already sweating out what I’m going to wear to the Lambda [...]

I like to read more than one book at a time.  Unless it’s fiction.  I can only read one novel at a time, but I can have several nonfiction books, art books, books on creativity going at once.  They all mix in my head in terrific ways.  And for the last several weeks, even as [...]

The luggage is all packed and sitting in the hallway, causing earth-shattering consternation to the household pets.  One of the cats even stole my wallet this morning, but I found it before he dispersed the credit cards all over the back porch.  They love their sitter, but the luggage still freaks them out.
Flying freaks me [...]

Finally getting settled back in at home.  Though “settled” is relative, I guess, since there are still half-filled suitcases in the house and laundry to be done and mail to be sorted . . . and on and on.
I’ve been greeted with such wonderful emails from so many friends and readers since the award and [...]

The second Lonnie Squires mystery, TOASTED, available September 1!
Cousin Donna Hancock’s Loaves and Fishes Culinary Ministries evangelical cooking school road show–think about it.  Lonnie Squires has to.
Trying to redeem her good name in the little town of Middelburg, Lonnie volunteers as additional security for Cousin Donna’s traveling program.  Her ultimate goal is supporting her own [...]

It’s a little ritual I have:  to take a day near the end of April of beginning of May, stock up on chocolate and skim milk and read a mystery from start to finish.  I started the practice decades ago during college.  I’d finish my last exam but because I worked with housing, I couldn’t [...]

Holy cow, I WON!!!
Here’s a shot from the screen when it was announced!
It was a great evening even before this announcement.  Bella author Karin Kallmaker won two awards–it was a great night for Bella.
Bonus:  the award for best mystery was presented by none other than Kate Clinton, so I got to meet her (or at [...]

Thanks to the recommendation of my local friendly librarian (an author’s best friend), I stocked up on terrific young adult novels to read for the next few weeks.  I settled in with The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol 1:  The Pox Party figuring to spend the weekend reading it.  Instead, [...]